It was a simple gesture, the planting of a tree at Memorial Park in Tauranga on Friday afternoon.

But it symbolized a 100 years of humanitarianism by the world's biggest service club, the Lions, which boasts 1.4 million members in 46,286 clubs worldwide.

In New Zealand, there are 373 Lions Clubs and 10,080 registered members. And this weekend three to four hundred delegates will gather in Tauranga for the Lions 57th Multiple District 202 Convention.

'It started with the tree planting at Memorial Park” says conference chairman Alan Schofield. 'It's a maple.”

Then tonight at the Bethlehem College Performing Arts Centre there will be the flag ceremony.

'Flags representing some of the 200 countries in which Lions operate will be brought into the auditorium by Leos, the young Lions.”

And on tomorrow the Lions will get down to business – business like a remit out of Waihi to raise a lot of money for the battle against diabetes.

Globally the Lions have set a goal of touching and improving the lives of 200 million people each year by 2121 –tripling the organisation's humanitarian impact.

Their motto is 'We Serve” and internationally they're best known for fighting blindness, feeding the hungry, helping seniors and the disabled, and caring for the environment. Since 1968 Lions Clubs International Foundation has awarded more than $900 million in grants to support Lions humanitarian projects.

After business tomorrow the Lions will gather at Tauranga racecourse for a social night.

'On the Sunday delegates at the MD202 convention will remember past Lions and hold a re-dedication. That's a personal recommitment to all the good humanitarian Lions work still to be done.”

And the maple growing now growing at Memorial Park will serve as a beacon of inspiration for them.

Lions International director Ben Bow.